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Seriously? Yonex Japan would still occasionally produce wooden racquets if there is a demand (for collection, naturally)?

The original wood (made of beech wood?) racquet craftsmen must be septuagenarians by now at least!

The last Yonex wooden racquets were produced around 1980, 30 years ago.If the workers there were about 30/40, they would be about
60/70 now. But knowing the Japanese they would have reduced the craft to a series of processes captured in a staff manual for continuity
instead of allowing craftsmen to take it to their graves.Equipment may just be modified joinery machines.

i think the basic ingredient is not solid timber but laminated plywood.Maybe just like making acoustic guitars.

pix of a couple more oldies

Yonex Carbonex 7:
Carlton 3.7X:
The Carlton was a hot favorite of a lot of attacking-style players during the 70s due to its weight (s.steel head & shaft) high-tension (s.steel head could take the higher tension stringing than its contemporaries though the strings would wear out the grommets quite fast and need replacing with each re-stringing!) flexibility (the slightly flattened middle of the cylindrical s.steel shaft helped to give it some flex)
ubootsg

Can anyone help me with my racket? It is a Carlton 3.7S. It has the aluminium coloured head like the photo of the 3.7x above, a black shaft and black cone. But there is no taper on the shaft. I read briefly on Google that the models in the 70's were - 3.7x, 3.7s, 3.7, 3.9.
Q1: So what is the difference between the various models? 3.7x is the pro model, and 3.9 is the cheapest one?
Q2: Was the 3.7s from 1979 too?
Q3: Did Lim Swie Keng use 3.7s as well? Or only 3.7x?
Thanks! I was in primary school then I didn't know too much except that they were very expensive. Worse than Blacken.

Hi Featherbeater!
With regards to your questions above, if my memory serves me correctly:
Q1 - 3.7S had a black shaft, the 3.7X had a chromed shaft, and the 3.9 was entirely in chrome I think. It was slightly heavier than the 3.7s, did not have the flattened middle in the shaft and was a slightly cheaper model as well.
Q2 - They were all produced in the mid-70s, by the mid 80s Cartlon had already started producing the carbon-fibre and carbon-graphite Classic series of which I also used in competitive play then. Sadly I don't have any examples of those left as I'd either broken them in use or had given them away after I stopped competitive play.
Q3 - My memory is sketchy here - I remember Liem Swie King in the advertising pics and posters that Carlton produced to market the 3.7 series, but whether he stuck to using the 3.7x specifically I do not know.

As to prices then, I remember the Blacken being priced about S$28+ then the Carltons were priced above 30 for sure.

Thanks for the reply Lee! So besides the taper in the shaft, can we say that 3.7x and 3.7s are identical in construction, or was one higher spec than the other? What purpose does the taper in the shaft serve? Really appreciate you sharing your memories of the 70's. I remember the stretch of shophouses near Cathay where I used to go to stare at the stuff and buy second hand novels. Those were the good times!

Thanks for the reply Lee! So besides the taper in the shaft, can we say that 3.7x and 3.7s are identical in construction, or was one higher spec than the other? What purpose does the taper in the shaft serve? Really appreciate you sharing your memories of the 70's. I remember the stretch of shophouses near Cathay where I used to go to stare at the stuff and buy second hand novels. Those were the good times!

Hi Yong!
You might want to take a closer look at the shaft of your 3.7S. I think it might be tapered too albeit very slightly. Just do a visual comparison of the diameter of the shaft where it joins the head with the diameter where it joins the handle, there should be slight difference of about 2mm. I'm not a trained designer but I've a technical background and worked with metals. The taper would help to take a little bit of weight off the head-end of the shaft without sacrificing much loss in strength and rigidity there when the racket is being used. the middle is where all the flexing/bending occurs, subjected to all the stresses incurred when the racket is used. The base-end of the shaft attached to the handle is foundation and pivot end of the racket, naturally a 'bigger' diameter would help to give it more strength than the other end.

By your mention of the Cathay vicinity shophouses I gather that you'd be reffering to the row of sports shops facing the Bras Basah Road, leading up to SJI, which was where I attended Sec. school. There were lots of Sports shops and 2nd-hand bookshops competing for business from the schoolkids from all around the area. Besides, SJI, there's also RGS, SAC, RI, ACS, VS, CHIJ as well.

By the way are you still playing regularly and do you use your Carlton at all?
Rgds,
Lee

You are absolutely right! The shaft is 2 mm wider at the cone, and it does taper all the way to the head. I do play weekly with my kid but not with the 3.7s. I have a Blacken SP with the Yonex holographic sticker on the cone, which I think might be from the late 80's. Part of the reason is because it looks so nice I can't bear to use it. I know this sounds strange.

Hi Lee
I have a Blacken SP with the Yonex holographic sticker on the cone, which I think might be from the late 80's. Part of the reason is because it looks so nice I can't bear to use it. I know this sounds strange.

Hi again.
You should take a look at this thread, someone here has a very impressive collection of "woodies":

You are absolutely right! The shaft is 2 mm wider at the cone, and it does taper all the way to the head. I do play weekly with my kid but not with the 3.7s. I have a Blacken SP with the Yonex holographic sticker on the cone, which I think might be from the late 80's. Part of the reason is because it looks so nice I can't bear to use it. I know this sounds strange.

Just want to add some information the Calton. I was using the 3.7X around in the mid / late 1970's. By the the late 1970's Yonex started to came up with carbon fibre shafts, from 8300 to 9300 (wood frame), to 8500, and weight started to go down from from L to 2L and 3L. Not long after that (1980 or so), Calton came out with the 3.7S, which used carbon fibre shaft, which my double partner of the time used. If I remember correctly, the 3.7S was noticeably lighter than the 3.7X!

Interesting! So the 3.7s is Carlton's answer to the early Carbonex trend. It does feel a lot lighter than the regular 3.7 which if I'm not wrong has been around since the early 70's if not even longer.

Do you know when did Carlton introduce the 'long triangle background' logo on the T-joint? Was it in '86?